THIS is the horror moment an attack drone loaded with a deadly bomb strikes an enemy truck during a clash between two Mexican drug cartels.

Footage shows the drone hovering above the white pickup truck before hitting the vehicle and exploding inside.

The clash seen in the footage is reportedly between Mexico’s El Tena group striking an armored vehicle operated by the dangerous Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNC) cartel.

The drones were understood to be loaded with C4, an explosive reserved for military use, with additional ammunition of pellets to cause further damage.

There has been a stark increase in the use of drones to fight rival cartel groups in Mexico.

It comes as the leader of CNJC Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as El Mencho, is said to be “preparing” the cartel to face Trump.

CNJC was founded in 2009, and its ruthless rise to global dominance has left bodies and screams in its wake –  ripping out victims’ hearts, dissolving their bodies in barrels of acid, and even targeting pregnant women.

The cartel’s drug trafficking empire now reaches all corners of the globe, despite ferocious competition from other cartels in Mexico and increasingly desperate efforts from international authorities to hold them back.

The gangsters are now buying high-caliber weapons, according to journalist and podcaster Anabel Hernández as they prepare to face down the US military.

One of the first executive orders that Trump signed included designating gangs from Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela and El Salvador as foreign terrorist organisations.

It could give his government more powers to go after the criminal organisations with military strikes or to forcefully remove their members from the US.

Hernández said: “After Trump announced his war against the Mexican cartels, it [CJNG] is the organization that is preparing itself the fastest with powerful weapons to fight.

“Although the leader of the CJNG claims to have arrangements with the Government of Mexico, he does not rule out that there may be covert operations by the Trump administration.”

Hernández claimed that the CJNG is now monitoring Mexican airports, cities, and even US consulates in the country.

The cartel appears to be worried that US military special forces could be deployed in Mexico as Trump tries to crush the gangs.

There is also a $15 million (£12 million) bounty on the head of El Mencho and legal proceedings open against him in Washington DC.

Security expert Professor Anthony Glees told The Sun that Trump may launch airstrikes in Mexico to “wage a war” against the lethal cartels that pose a threat to his “Fortress America”.

The largest cartels are based in Mexico and Colombia and according to a US Congress report, pose the “greatest organized crime threat” to America.

Glees said America’s enemies “will tremble at what he is able to do”, in Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia or El Salvador, where the most prominent gangs conduct far-reaching drug operations.

Previously, footage emerged showing dozens of uniformed gunmen posing with military-grade weapons near armoured pickup trucks emblazoned with the initials of the Jalisco drug cartel.

In the two-minute clip, members of the fearsome CJNG stand in fatigues alongside a seemingly endless procession of armored vehicles